and Who Will Find Us Then?
by Graffiti Rain
Summary: After being injured saving a boy from himself, Blair decides to drag the kid along on her current journey so he can shape up. But when her past comes sweeping her away, her new companion is caught in the chaos. Along their hazardous paths they'll both find that there are things worth dying for... and that a star shines brightest before it fades.
1. and Who Will Stop Us Then?

Funny, how the one day when you need to have all five of your Pokémon out, you don't. In fact, Blair had all five walking with her since as far as she could remember, or at least since she's had them all together. But today it just happens that she wanted to spend some quality time with her Arcanine, and look where it got her.

In trouble, as always.

Her head was down as she walked, cappuccino-colored hair tumbling over her eyes. Among other things, she fleetingly thought that it was really time for a haircut. The hair in back was almost touching her neck, which she absolutely would _not _stand for in this Kanto summer heat. A puff of air from her lips ruffled the bangs, and a breeze blew them up further. She sighed, and raised her head.

Arcanine glanced at her, moving his large body over to bump playfully against hers. She smiled a small smile, despite the gesture.

"It's been weird lately, you know that, Arcanine?"

The dog Pokémon made a small, somber noise. The sound fell and was lost in the air.

"I miss travelling with them," she confessed. Arcanine glanced at her, a little worried. Sentiments like this weren't exactly normal coming from his trainer. The Pokémon looked to where five others were waiting.

Blair noticed him staring at her belt, and brought her hand to rest on the pokéballs there. "Alright, I'm sorry. In the end, I'm happy as long as I have you guys. But… well, I don't know if you ever get lonely."

Arcanine changed his gait a little, swaying slightly in the wind and thinking about that. _Did _he ever get lonely? He'd been with Blair such a long, long time…

"Didn't you take to any of their teams? I thought you had a little thing for his Frosslass."

Arcanine looked away, his face heating up a bit. Well, the ice- and ghost-type Pokémon was undeniably tough and admirable, and she was the most graceful thing he had ever laid eyes on... He shook his head a little wonderingly at these thoughts, but in the end he got tired of thinking and turned back without really coming to a conclusion.

Blair gave a lopsided grin when she saw his expression. "Well, however you feel about it, I miss them. And it sucks. Sinnoh and Hoenn! Well, half of Sinnoh, but that's still an entire region and a half. It was... nice, having my best friends in the region north of home..."

Arcanine just nodded, understanding most of what she was saying. She stopped talking after that, worried that the questions dominating her mind for the past two years would resurface yet again. It was only frustrating, she reminded herself, and it's not going to help anyone. There was the _why_ questions that she couldn't answer, and then there were the _what should I do?_ There wasn't anything she could do, or at least that's what she told herself.

There it was. That was the thing that gnawed at her gut in the night. More than _why, _more than _how, _the thing that haunted her most was the thought that, right then, she should be–

They were dangerously deep in thought, both of them. She knew it wasn't smart to get separated from her Pokémon, but she couldn't help it when her body froze up to concentrate on a single thought. And Arcanine knew it wasn't smart to get separated from his trainer, but he really couldn't help that she had made him question some things, and he didn't notice when she stopped walking and he kept on.

So when there was something that required their attention, both their guards were completely off. And Arcanine was several paces ahead of her.

A figure shot from the thick brush lining the path. Blair tensed as she felt a hard arm around her neck. Something cold was pressed to her throat, and it held the expectation of pain. She was stunned, taking up precious moments to even register what was happening. _Danger!_ shouted her brain. She reached up to grab her attacker's arm, making sure he left breathing space. Then she began to take in the situation.

By then, the dog had started and turned around to see what was wrong. When he did just that, fire immediately erupted in Arcanine's eyes. His species was well known for being protective of its trainer, and he was enraged by this... _scum_ that dared to threaten her. Hostile growls poured from Arcanine's throat. Behind her, Blair could feel her attacker trembling. The small pocket knife held to her throat was unnervingly shaky. She squirmed a bit to look at his face, which was right behind hers, being about the same height. He looked to be a few years younger.

His face seemed calm, but shaking knees gave away his fear.

"Do you want to get yourself killed?" Blair asked, whispering harshly. The blade vibrated with each word. "Arcanine will have you dead in a second. All it takes is a wrong move."

"That's what I'm counting on." Unlike his body, his voice did not crack, rather it was infused with something else. Resolve, maybe. His eyes looked straight ahead into Arcanine's.

Blair froze, then panicked. Suddenly a small danger as a boy with a pocket knife wasn't all there was to worry about. "Stop it! What are you doing?" She cried out, confused. He was _trying_ to kill himself. No. That wasn't right at all. She yelled and bit at his wrist, but he only winced, as if he was used to pain there. She couldn't step away from him, though, or else... she didn't want to think about it.

"You hate me now, right, Arcanine? Come get me. Bite me." He wasn't joking, Blair realized, as the situation hit her. All of the insults in her head would've been hurled towards the boy if it weren't such a dire time right then. She wouldn't let her Pokémon become a murderer. And she wouldn't let this punk kid die in front of her!

"Arcanine, stop! Listen to me!" She put all she had into the command, but the Pokémon was beyond reason.

"Shut up," the boy hissed. "It's okay."

While Blair didn't care for the boy's death wish, Arcanine was more than willing to oblige. When the kid suddenly pushed Blair aside and left himself open for attack, Arcanine was crashing toward him in a heartbeat. The boy didn't have time for a last look at the world, he simply closed his eyes and hoped Arcanine were quick killers.

There was a scream and blood splattered onto his face.

It wasn't his blood.

"Aw, shit," a voice rasped, then coughed. Ow. Maybe jumping in front of an enraged Arcanine wasn't such a good idea. Oh well, too late now. She tried to move her head, and found she could if she went very slowly. Behind her, still standing still in shock, was the boy.

He trembled, harder than he had mere minutes ago and dropped the pocket knife he held. Before him, stained with her own blood, was a girl mauled by her own Arcanine. Because of him. He crumpled to his knees.

"Ar...canine," she rasped some more. Her voice was hampered by pain. "Help, please? Don't... kill him... or I'll be very angry." It took an eternity to get the words out.

The boy's heart beat faster. Hospital? That sounded right. The gears in his head cranked slowly to life. She was bleeding. Stop the bleeding. He stripped off his shirt, intending to try to stop the flow of blood, but Arcanine quickly intervened.

"Please, move aside. She needs help."

The Pokémon simply shot him a withering glare. But the glare turned to guilt when he faced his trainer, bloodied and weak. Her eyes were closed now, unconscious. He messed up. He didn't protect her. He shouldn't have even let the boy get to her in the first place – was he getting rusty in his prime? He was failure as an Arcanine. As a Pokémon.

The Arcanine shook his head. No time for self-pity now. He nosed his way to her belt, touching the button of a pokéball there. The fifth one.

The standard red light emerged, and a small brown sheep-like creature appeared. Its orange eyes turned fearful when it saw its trainer lying on the ground in such a condition. Arcanine barked and the Whimsicott rushed to oblige. Placing the soft mane of cotton that grew from its head onto its trainer's wound helped staunch the flow of blood. She still needed treatment, and quickly.

"I'll help put her on your back," the boy offered, but he was refused with a flamethrower to his feet. Arcanine opened two more pokéballs, revealing an Mawile and a Luxray, who assisted in transporting Blair from the ground to the large fire-type's back. They made to take off in the direction of the next town, but the boy's cries stopped them.

"Take me, too," he pleaded. He was on the verge of tears. "I owe your trainer."

Luxray stepped forward despite Arcanine's disapproving look, and crouched ever so slightly. The boy quickly wiped away his tears and climbed on. As they continued, Blair's murmur could not be heard over the wind, but she said a weak thanks nonetheless.


	2. and Who Will Hold Us Then?

Blair huffed and let her body go limp on the desk. As the teacher droned on, all she could think about was the fact that she already knew all of it. In fact, she had been (unofficially) training since she was around five. She wished her dad had let her test out of these stupid beginner classes, but he didn't want her taking any "shortcuts." The Growlithe next to her bumped against her leg and she smiled. At least she could have her Pokémon here.

She looked around at the other Pokémon and people in the class. A few of them had lab starters and a few had Pokémon they'd caught or been given. Most all of them were ten years old like her, but there were a few older teens too. She caught the eye of a girl sitting at a desk at the very side of the room, accompanied by a Rapidash wedged between the desk and the wall. The fire horse was nuzzling in her hair, and she let out a quiet giggle.

_Wait, a Rapidash?_ It was awfully strange to start out with an evolved Pokémon, especially one that looked fairly old.

"Blair!" snapped the instructor.

"What?" replied Blair, dragging her eyes towards the front of the room.

"I asked you a question. What are the legendries native to Kanto?"

Blair smirked. Too easy. "Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres."

"And who leads them?"

"Lugia, the guardian of the sea."

Satisfied, the instructor nodded and went on lecturing. "It's a statistical fact that a lot of you will find out that training isn't right for you, and most likely you'll return to home and school. However, those of you who progress to become stronger might one day meet a legendary." Hearing this, the ten-year-olds sat up straighter and made excited sounds.

She continued, "Articuno is an Ice and Flying type, specializing in–"

Blair tuned it out as usual, resisting the urge to spit on the floor. She had grown up with this stuff, studying everything about Pokémon she could get her hands on: training guides, Pokémon encyclopedias, even the tournaments they played on TV. She was already confident in her knowledge, but something the instructor said made her pay attention.

"...calming them with Lugia's song. However, most people don't realize that Lugia has _two_ songs..."

Blair had never heard that before, and leaned forward to listen.

"...The first is meant to calm, revive, and heal. The second is a song of death. It is said that anyone who hears Lugia's second song will perish."

The room was quiet for a beat or two until someone called out, "That's can't be right! I thought... I thought Lugia was good."

Blair looked back to see that the one who had spoken was the girl with the Rapidash. The teacher shook her head and replied softly, "To be sung to your death by Lugia is said to be one of the greatest privileges. Before poachers and Team Rocket, Lugia lived alongside the people. They would bring humans and Pokémon – sometimes even animals – that were on their deathbeds to be sung to."

"Oh," said the girl, falling into deep thought.

When class was dismissed sometime later and students milled about in the hall, Blair strode over to the girl. "Hi, I'm Blair," she said, thrusting out her hand.

The other girl took it with a broad smile. "Brielle Thompson," she replied. "Nice to meet you."

"You too. And hey, that's a pretty awesome Rapidash you have there," Blair commented not-so-subtly.

Brielle didn't seem to mind too much, but she did blush a little. "Yeah, she's my starter. But she was also my mom's starter."

Blair raised her eyebrows in surprise. Another thing she'd never heard about. "Really?"

Brielle nodded. "My mom never finished the circuit as a kid because of health problems, but she wanted to give Shell another chance." The Rapidash whinnied and swished her fiery tail, showering embers on some unhappy passerby. Blair laughed, but something she said caught in her mind for some reason.

_Health problems?_

/

She could feel that heavy blackness all around. It wrapped itself around her head like thick wool and dulled her thoughts. Her chest was tight and weighed down, her senses clouded. Though all this was still better than the fire she would have felt had she not been given any drugs.

_"…didn't hit any major organs, thank goodness. Her hip bone is fractured and she won't be walking for a while – she's lost good amount of blood, but this could have been much, much worse. It looks like that dog of hers pulled back at the last second."_

As her eyes registered the stark hospital lights, she squinted, resenting them. The smell of bleach and stiff white sheets reached her nose. She had always hated that artificial-clean smell. It called up thoughts of a hospital in her own town, one which she spent many hours visiting. Many hours… until one day there wasn't a reason to visit anymore.

Blair shot up in a fit of panic. She felt her side burn like hellfire and she immediately wished she had stayed down. In a split second she took in the room containing a doctor, a nurse, and… that kid. The kid who had caused all this. The kid who was stupid enough to try to use her Arcanine for his cabbage-headed suicide attempt.

She wasn't sure what welled up inside her then, but she felt it drain away when the Butterfree beside her used Sleep Powder. It was back to that monotone dark again…

/

Arcanine paced around the small room. There was some Pokémon food in the corner along with a bowl of water, but that was the last thing on the dog's mind. His trainer was somewhere else, without him. With each moment it grew increasingly hard to bear. The dog Pokémon paced harder, faster. At this point, he didn't really care that they didn't want him in the Cerulean human hospital. The Pokémon Center he'd been sent to was right down the street, and if he could just get out of this room…

Arcanine backed up, lowering his head and growling just for the sake of getting revved up. Focusing power in his legs, he crouched and charged the door, bursting out with ease. He heard a passing nurse scream as he made a sharp turn down the hallway toward the entrance. Ignoring it, he slammed through the double doors and hurtled down the street. No one could stop an Arcanine using extreme speed to get to its trainer.

No one would stop him.

People's hair whooshed back when he passed them, and they were forced to do a double take to make sure they weren't hallucinating. Arcanine ignored everything, including the small commotion beginning at the Pokémon center. Rounding the human hospital's E.R. sign, he made his way to the front of the building where the waiting room was.

The giant dog had begun panting at this point as the sun on his thick fur started to raise his body temperature. He slowed down to a trot as he neared his destination, allowing the automatic doors to slide open. Air conditioning poured out as he stepped in. He looked around desperately. What now?

"Arcanine?" The Pokémon's body tensed at the voice. He turned his head slowly– a blood-curdling growl beginning in his throat – to face the speaker.

A boy almost exactly the size and age of his own trainer looked up at him with eyes that were dark-rimmed and red from crying. The dog Pokémon took a step back, baring sturdy fangs at the boy. The air trembled with pressure.

The receptionist had heard the growl and was now fumbling for the phone on her desk in a panic. Noticing this, the boy sprung up and hurried over to her. Arcanine watched what looked like a lot of begging and desperate gestures, but finally the receptionist took a few deep breaths and nodded uncertainly. The boy bowed his head several times before striding back to the dog Pokémon.

"Let's go by the door. They won't let us up to her room right now," remarked the boy tiredly. He rubbed at his eye and sniffed a little.

Arcanine scoffed and flicked his mane, but followed the small human to a row of generic waiting room chairs. As soon as the boy sat, Arcanine was right in his face; his large furry body blocked every possible escape route.

The boy pressed back in the chair as far as he could, averting his eyes anywhere but into the Pokémon's in front of him. A growl from Arcanine made the receptionist glace up worriedly, and the boy strained to say, "Please Arcanine, they'll kick us both out and then we won't be able to see your trainer at all."

The noises faded out, but his stare and stance were more than sufficiently intimidating.

The kid's eyes darted back and forth before he gulped and tried speaking again.

"I'm called Kit, I want you to know that I know that I'll never be able to say sorry enough. I know that for a fact." His voice was strong, but just like the first time he and Blair had met, his body didn't seem to follow suit. The kid trembled and his eyes got watery, but Arcanine didn't move a muscle. The dog didn't care about the sentiments, much less the brat's name.

"And I don't know what you would have to do to feel better, but whatever it is, go ahead and do it. I'm not scared anymore, just guilty. Unbelievably guilty." Arcanine squinted at the kid. To say he hated him would be an understatement. Honestly, the dog wanted to chase him off a cliff and see how far his blood would splatter. But Blair had said not to kill him... and the last time he didn't listen to a command, it had led to this. The dog backed off.

They sat there like that for half an eternity. Eventually Kit balled up his sweatshirt and curled up in the uncomfortable chair, looking for all the world like an exhausted animal. Arcanine lay down after a while but never really relaxed. His ears were constantly twitching and his eyes roamed the room. When a nurse emerged from the elevator and called for the companions of Blair Ignite, Arcanine shot up, causing the poor man to practically leap six feet into the air. Kit twitched and finally sat up, stumbling over to the nurse.

"She can have visitors now, although we usually don't even allow Pokémon in the lobby. Can't it wait down here?" the man asked, gesturing to the huge dog Pokémon. Arcanine seemed to understand what he was asking, and his eyes turned like steel.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," started Kit, snapping out of his somber mood and reverting to a more strategic one. "This Pokémon has just gone through a lot of trauma, and is experiencing _severe_ separation anxiety. I'm afraid he's a bit unstable, and I'm not sure what awful things could happen if he snapped." Kit shook his head in mock remorse.

The man, taken aback by the implications, pursed his lips. Several moments later he hesitantly complied. "Alright, but please try to be inconspicuous. Her room number is 202, on the second floor."

"Thank you, sir."

"Yes, now hurry on."

As they shoved open the door to the stairwell, Arcanine eyed Kit suspiciously. The kid wasn't as helpless as he had first thought. In the Pokémon's eyes, it did the opposite of earning his respect. Arcanine would have to keep a sharp eye out for this one. The Pokémon wasn't going to fail his duty twice.

Having found room 202 with ease, Arcanine bounded in. Kit was back to an uncertain mood, and peeked in from the doorway. He saw Blair sit up in bed, happily greeting her Arcanine and half-heartedly scolding him about being in the Hospital. Kit observed her lightly clutching her stomach, and winced.

Blair finally noticed him standing in the doorway.

Her body tensed, and Arcanine wasn't helping the atmosphere by adding in his own clearly negative emotions. Blair took a deep breath before slowly raising a hand and beckoning to the boy.

He shuffled in the room, one hand nervously rubbing the opposite arm.

"You're unhurt. That's good," she commented, looking him up and down. Kit almost dropped down on the spot. _That was the first thing she said after this!?_

His own words surprised him even more, "You are insane."

She shot him a glare, but it quickly turned into a grin. "You're one to talk, problem-child. Now get over here so I can hit your face in."

Kit naturally complied, considering all he'd put her through, and walked to her bed ready to receive whatever she had to throw at him.

"..." They stared at each other awkwardly. Kit shifted in her gaze.

"Well? Are you going to hit me or not?"

Blair scoffed at the sheer stupidity. "Of course not, you complete and utter idiot. I freaking saved your life, so I'm not going to hit you. Not now, anyways," Blair stuck her tongue out, presumably at his lack of sense.

"I don't see why not. You have every reason to," Kit countered, absolutely serious and wondering why she was being so complacent after everything.

"What, do you want me to hit you? One of us might as well not need a hospital bed, and it sure isn't me." She reached to stroke Arcanine's head, which was now resting heavily on her lap. She paused a moment more. "Tomorrow."

"What about it?"

"We're getting out of this town tomorrow," Blair replied airily, as if informing him of the weather.

"You are insane," repeated Kit automatically, his eye almost twitching at the absurdity. "You probably need a day or two more just at the hospital, and even after that you should just get a room at the Pokémon Center and rest for a couple weeks. You can't travel!"

"You cannot tell me what I can and can't do, so shut your face." If Blair were a dog Pokémon, her hackles would have risen. She scowled, and Kit saw something in her eyes that made him want to crawl into a corner and hide. Instead, he backed up a few steps. "I can't afford to stay here much longer, in more ways than one," she added.

Kit almost missed the comment.

"You are coming with me, right?" asked Blair, her brown eyes fixed steadily on the boy. She saw his eyes through his dark bangs, and she could tell they were uncertain.

Kit stuttered, "I- I'll be gone by the time you get better. I'll be dead so this won't ever happen again. So I won't cause any trouble. So I won't hurt anyone, anymore. So-" Kit's eyes suddenly narrowed and his hands reached up to clamp over his ears. "I'm so stupid I can't live with myself, and others shouldn't have to live with me, an-"

Her look stopped him as if he had walked into a brick wall.

"Shut. Your. Damn. Face," commanded Blair, throwing each word like a punch. There was no trace of a smile on her bare lips and her eyes sparked with rage. The Arcanine next to her cracked open an eye, somehow drawing pleasure from Kit's disturbed expression.

"Do you know why I got hurt in the first place?" Blair asked in an even tone.

"...because of me."

"And what were you trying to do?"

Kit's eyes flittered to the Arcanine still looking in his direction. The young boy swallowed hard. "I was trying to get myself killed."

"Haven't you learned anything from that?" Blair cocked an eyebrow at him, daring the kid to defy her logic.

"...I see your point, but–"

"No buts. I'll need help with some things because of my injury, and that's where you come in. Got it?"

Kit was now staring blankly at his shoes.

"_Got it?_" repeated Blair, more harshly.

"...got it."

"Good."

After much convincing, Arcanine went back to the Pokémon Center, albeit with ears back and head down. Before he left, Kit heard Blair whisper something quietly to Pokémon, and although he didn't hear what it was, it seemed to cheer the Arcanine up considerably. Kit retreated back to his hoodie and the waiting room chair, and settled in for a restless night.


	3. and Who Will Blame Us Then?

To his surprise, Kit found that he quickly slipped into a deep sleep. He was drained physically and mentally. How had so much happened in a day? He had nearly gotten a Pokémon to kill its own trainer, and now he had to travel with that very same person. His head ached just thinking about it. What was he going to do now? Kit had the sneaking suspicion that even when he wasn't needed anymore, that girl still wouldn't let him die. The thought made him uneasy…

When his mind brought him slowly into consciousness, he found himself being nudged onto the back of a large black form. Sleepily, he took in an empty waiting room with dimmed lights. Even the receptionist was gone, but there was a sign on her desk saying, "Thank you for your patience, I will return in just a moment." It was dark outside the glass doors save for a bit of moonlight and the occasional firefly.

With a start, Kit sat up and immediately tried to distance himself from the large creature. His efforts failed when a black jaw smacked him right back onto the mass of fur. He shivered, both from the small electric currents running through the beast and the sight of a huge mouth-like thing on his chest.

His mind shaking off the last remnants of sleep, he realized that there were _two_ beasts. Red eyes peered at him from a surprisingly cute face, considering the huge jaws stemming from its head. The Mawile before him growled a warning and then slowly lifted its transformed horns off. Sitting up on the black one, Kit could now see its face turned toward him, a kind look in its golden eyes.

"You're Blair's Pokémon," breathed Kit, recognizing the Luxray who had disobeyed Arcanine to bring him along. Luxray made a sneeze-type noise in response.

Mawile jerked its head toward the door of the hospital, indicating that they should go. The night air was strangely cool for a Kanto summer, and Kit nestled a little further into the electrical-smelling Pokémon. As expected, Blair was waiting outside on Arcanine, leaning her back on his neck. In the dim light, Kit couldn't make out her expression.

"Let's go," she said, and Kit heard an adventurous tone in her voice, but there was a little bit of something else there. Pain, maybe.

"You are insane," Kit sighed as Luxray trotted a little to catch up. "You should be getting treatment."

Kit couldn't see their eyes, but he felt both her and Arcanine' s glare. "What did I say about telling me what to do?"

It was quiet for a while after that.

"Where are we going?" Kit asked, a little frustrated.

"To the forest along Route 5, and then we're heading back to my home in Celadon. Then I'll decide whether you can leave or not."

"You don't own me."

"I saved your pitiful life, so I'll decide when I've turned you into an upstanding citizen," Blair replied in a hard voice. Her body rocked with the movement of the Pokémon beneath her. Despite her travel plans, she knew she wouldn't be able to walk for a while.

"I was trying to die," Kit muttered stubbornly, looking out into the dark forest and pouting. The route they were taking was lined with thick trees throwing shadows on the path. Kit glared at the dark shapes on the ground as they passed.

"What was that?" challenged the girl. She began to twitch in annoyance._ Stupid, punk kid._

"You said you saved my life. But I was _trying to die._"

"You caused my Pokémon to attack me."

"You jumped in front of it," Kit countered, but after a growl from the dog, he added, "Okay, _he._"

"Well you are a coward," growled the girl, her cappuccino hair looking blue in the lighting. The accusation stopped Kit short.

After a few moments, he managed to choke out a word. "…What?"

A barrage poured from the trainer's lips. "You can't even die properly. You are such a coward you don't have the guts to end your own life. You had to get someone else to do it, huh? If you can't bring yourself to put a knife to your throat, don't go putting it against someone else's."

It stung like a thousand slaps to his face.

Blair let everything sink in before asking, "Why were you trying to die, anyways?"

"I don't know you and I don't want to talk about it," snapped Kit, but he settled down a moment later. "I told your Arcanine that no matter how many times I said I was sorry, nothing would change. But I am sorry."

Blair simply looked up at the starry sky, and the Mawile also riding on Arcanine looked up at her trainer. They walked and walked, and once Kit realized he wasn't getting a response, he tried to get as comfortable as he could on the Pokémon's back. He wasn't used to it, though, and ended up pretty much in the same position he started in.

"You can see Kolink tonight," Blair commented, still resting her head on the back of Arcanine's and lazily gazing up. It took a moment for Kit to realize that her words were directed towards the Luxray carrying him.

The electric Pokémon grunted. Suddenly Kit's hair stood up as he felt a tingle go through the Pokémon. A tiny spark flew over to Blair.

She didn't even flinch when it landed on her arm. "You always say that," she chuckled, although the sound was almost sad. Luxray shrugged and maybe even grinned, but Kit couldn't see too well.

"…Can I ask?" Kit said, tentatively.

"The Shinx constellation just reminds him of someone, that's all."

The boy decided not to pry further.

When the sun rose, Blair motioned for all of them to move off the path and into a clearing for the day. Mawile led them to a patch of dry dirt rimmed by brambles and shaded by leaning trees, her sharp grey claws scratching at the dry ground. Kit had fallen asleep at some point on Luxray's back, and Blair attempted to slide off Arcanine to go remove him. When she hit the ground, however, she only crumpled with a yelp of pain.

Arcanine hopped nervously and gently nosed the girl curled up and clutching at her side. She whimpered, then took a long breath and tried to relax her face. Slowly, words came.

"I'm fine," she rasped. "There's nothing you can do for me right now. We'll rest for the day, okay? Lay down the kid gently and get some breakfast." Mawile snorted but pawed Kit off of Luxray, who was content to let the boy use him as a pillow. Blair saw this and grinned even from her position on the ground. Luxray had always been pretty fatherly.

Meanwhile, Arcanine shook off the saddle-bags on his back and nosed through them until he found the food condensed into travel capsules. He glanced Mawile trotting off to hunt.

Blair slowly, painstakingly dragged herself over to Luxray and the boy while Arcanine kept a worried eye on her. When she finally got there, she just rolled onto her side so her back was against that static-y black fur. It was too hot for a sleeping pile like they would make in the winter, but Blair liked to be in contact with at least one of her Pokémon while sleeping. It meant she wouldn't wake up alone.

As she drifted off with the side of her face pressed into the dust, she could vaguely hear the sounds of Mawile stalking back with a kill, the feel of Luxray's body as he ate, and the warm breath of Arcanine in her face. _Wait...something's missing._ Her hand made its way to her belt and pressed the buttons of two Pokéballs there before she lapsed into shallow, dreamy sleep.

/

"How... how is she?" her voice cracked as she searched his face.

"Not good, Blair," he confessed, shaking his head and tossing brown bangs, "but she's okay with it, which is more than I can say for Brielle."

Blair dropped her gaze to her feet, letting her backpack slide off her shoulder and land with a thump. She had come as soon as he called. If Brielle didn't have her two best friends though this whole... mess... then who would she have?

"Should I have stayed with her through all this? Like you did?" Blair was desperately fishing at some comfort to relieve the thoughts that had been nagging her. He had put his entire journey on hold to stay with Brielle and her dying mother, while Blair had kept on. Should it really take something like this downhill ride to get her to come back?

He shook his head, slowly. He knew what she wanted, and he was willing to give it. "One of us should keep moving forward. One of us needs to get strong, to protect those who stay behind. Okay, Blair? I've stayed here because I love her. You need to train because you love her."

He looked at her almost pleading – for what, she didn't really know – and she realized he was crying. On the brink of tears herself, she steeled her resolve and asked, "Where's Brielle?"

"With her, of course. They've let Shell lie in the corner of the room. It makes them both feel better."

"Can I go see them?"

He wiped his face with his sleeve, attempting a smile but having it come out as more of a grimace. "You haven't come here for nothing. I'm sure she'll be glad we're all together again, if only for a little while."

He meant for the words to cheer her up, but Blair only turned her head away and bit her lip. Her voice caught in her throat. She pushed it out in a rasp. "What's going to happen after she dies, Aaron?"

He closed his eyes and didn't answer.


	4. and Who Will Save Us Then?

Kit awoke to a strange darkness, broken sometimes by something that looked an awful lot like lightning. He reached his hand up towards the sky, but it barely went five inches before he hit fur.

_Fur?_

He sat up, and as the black sky moved away he was assaulted with a glaring noon sun. He heard a squeal from above, and there was suddenly a small brown creature on top of him. Its orange eyes sparkled, and a cream colored mane flowed from its head. Cream colored, except for some darker, reddish patches.

"Whimsi!" it chirped.

"So you're awake?"

He rubbed his eyes and let them adjust. Before him lay Blair's Luxray, and for a second he thought it was the one who had spoken. He soon realized that Blair lay on the other side of the black beast. The boy pushed himself – and the Whimsicott on his stomach – up to peer over the Pokémon between them.

"Don't look over here." As the sharp command issued, the black sky descended again. It was Luxray's paw, blocking the sun from his eyes and at the moment pushing him down. His head came to rest on the forearm of the electric Pokémon.

"Lay down. We're going to be travelling for a while, and it's bad for your back to sleep on Luxray," she advised, her voice a little dimmed by the body between them. Kit thought he heard a sniff.

Kit resigned himself to the strange night and its occasional sparks. He felt the cotton-like Pokémon hop off of him and presumably back to Blair. But as he tried to see if he might drift off, he kept hearing that noise from the other side of Luxray.

"Do you have a cold?" he asked quite innocently. He didn't try to move, just listened.

"No," she finally admitted.

"You're crying, then?"

He took her silence as a yes. Kit thought about things for a while, then decided something quite strange. He thought he felt rather comfortable around this person and her Pokémon. Luxray's presence was a comfort, and though the girl was rough... well, she was alright. He blew out a puff of air and resolved himself.

_What the heck?_ was his approximate train of thought. _It's not like anything will matter when everything's over. You'll be fine._

"If you tell me why you're crying, I'll tell you why I did what I did."

"You first," came the immediate reply. Kit scoffed, stunned for a moment, and made a face. So much for his generous offer.

"Fine," he grumbled. He thought about it, and realized he didn't really know where to start.

"I don't know where to start," he said, reaching up a hand to touch the paw over his eyes.

"Well... was it family problems? Bullying?" Brielle asked. Kit thought she was trying to sound gentle, but he had to admit it wasn't working out too well.

"I suppose the root of it was my health," he started.

Blair choked at the statement and began to cough violently.

"Are you okay?" He sat up with a jerk and looked over Luxray.

"I'm fine," she finally managed to squeeze out, and grimaced. "But geez, that movement hurts like hell."

She wiped her mouth and settled back down. Kit saw that Whimsicott had jumped off of her when her fit started, and was looking on worriedly. The fluffy Pokémon slowly crawled back when it was over, nuzzling under her trainer's chin.

"Go on, so what made you want to quit?" Blair continued with as much tact as she could muster, which is to say, not much tact at all.

"Oh... well." Kit lay down and Luxray rested his paw on the boy's shoulder this time. "My mom was in between jobs when it happened, and Nick was basically putting college on hold to look after Lucy... well, he started a freelance website job thing so he could work from home, but it was still hard for both of them. And then... it was like the final straw... It was just a regular checkup, I didn't even want to go since we were so tight on money, but–"

He paused, and gave a pained smile. "Look at me," he said, his voice cracking. "I promised myself I could, but I can't talk about this so nonchalantly! It's real, but I can't believe it. I'm going to die so soon... and I want it to be just a... a bad dream–" At this point he simply gave up. Blair could feel through Luxray each sob that racked his body.

"It's not right! This world isn't right!" he screamed, voice hoarse and pained. "I couldn't ask them to pay for it! Suddenly I couldn't even live without hurting them!"

Blair lay on her side of the Pokémon and stared into the dirt her cheek was pressed to. No... The world wasn't right. She heard him talking in a low voice, maybe to himself, and she caught a few words.

"Tried to end it... over and over... and over and over. Couldn't. Ran away. Tried more and more times before I realized I'm afraid to die."

He suddenly sat up, turning his face to the sky. "I don't want to be afraid anymore."

/

**Author's Note: Well that escalated quickly... Was it too quick? I know my stories are always ridiculously corny and dramatic, but seriously...**


End file.
